Stellantis will not sell the Maserati brand, it has today confirmed, in spite of CEO Carlos Tavares’ earlier warning he would “shut down” underperforming car makers.
On Monday, Tavares told reporters: "If they don't make money, we will shut them down.” He added: “We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money.”
He also told Bloomberg Television: “The brands are here to be leveraged. If they are not able to monetise the value that they represent, then decisions will come."
This came after profits for the group – which also owns Peugeot, Vauxhall, Fiat and others – slumped 48% year on year in the first six months of 2024, to €5.6 billion (£4.7bn).
Maserati itself reported an €82 million (£69m) adjusted operating loss, resulting in unspecified “management actions”. Stellantis does not release figures for any of its other brands.
In spite of some reports claiming, and some analysts suggesting, that the Italian sports car maker would be put up for sale as early as 1 August, a Stellantis spokesperson told Autocar this morning that the group has no plans to slim down its stable.
“Stellantis reaffirms its commitment to all its powerful portfolio of 14 iconic brands,” they said. “Each of them has a 10-year time window to build a profitable and sustainable business, while we acknowledge that volatile markets and temporary situations may cause fluctuations.”
This statement also puts to an end rumours that the DS and Lancia brands were also on the chopping block, with the same analysts suggesting their marginal contribution to group sales was leaving them out of favour.
Stellantis put the poor half-year results down to a reduced product mix, and therefore a lower number of sales, due to both the Europe-wide cost of living crisis and a lowered interest in North America. The group also said it was impacted by several model-generation changeovers, such as for the Peugeot 3008 and 5008.
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Whilst i was never in the markey for a Maserarti, it looked like the old Grand cabrio lost its V8, had a face lift, and came back as a V6 at double the price, or an EV for a lot more. I imagine the same has happened for all of them.
I like the look of the new Lancia Ypsilon, but there is no commitment to make them RHD, and currently they are EV or Hybrid only. I could see one on my drive, at the right price, but only with a manual box, something currently they dont offer anywhere.
Stellantis need to make what the buyer wants, without increasing prices excessively, yet still needs to hit the rules the UK and EU set. Presently they seem to be maki9ng cars to fit the EU rules, without consideration to the price, or what buyers want, and then wondering why profits (and sales) are down.
Stellantis need to rememmber that the customer is the most important part of the equasion. Make what we want, and people will buy them. As for EU and UK rules, lets see how the policticians back down when no one wants a new car any longer